The Decatur County Community Foundation has announced the finalists for Decatur County’s 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.
Decatur County had 50 students begin the competitive process in August by completing an online application and a controlled essay. The application and essay are anonymous as students are identified by numbers only.
The online application was reviewed by a six-member committee made up of representatives from various community entities. Each applicant was scored on community involvement, school activities, and work experience. Students were also evaluated on academics. A second committee of two volunteers from outside the county scored the controlled essays.
Scores from these two rounds were averaged, and the top five students moved on to the finalist round. Those top scorers include Savannah Danforth, Christopher Mains and Chase Tekulve from Greensburg Community High School; Cooper Parmer from North Decatur High School; and Makayla Somers from South Decatur High School.
These five students recently completed the last phase of the selection process. This round of judging was also anonymous and was scored by a third set of new evaluators. During this step, each finalist prepared an oral presentation on a topic of their choice. Students also answered a series of impromptu interview questions.
Scores from all three rounds of evaluations are now sent to the Independent Colleges of Indiana to formally determine a winner. The top student will receive full tuition to the Indiana school of his or her choice, along with a $900 book stipend. The four remaining semi-finalists will receive a $5,000 DCCF Community Scholarship. The Decatur County recipient should be announced in December.
Since the 1997-98 school year, Lilly Endowment Inc. has provided over $490M in grant support for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program. Administered statewide by Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. with local support from Indiana community foundations, more than 5,300 Indiana high school students have been awarded the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.
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